Artichokes have extraordinary hypolipidemic effects

A team of researchers from Brazil found that artichoke (Cynara scolymus) has powerful hypolipidemic and antiatherogenic effects. This finding, which was published in Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia, was based on the results of a study in hypercholesterolemic mice.

In the study, the research team looked at the hypolipidemic and antiatherogenic effects of an aqueous extract prepared from the leaves of artichokes in mice.

They treated mice with high cholesterol levels with 150, 300, or 600 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of artichoke aqueous extract or four mg/kg of simvastatin, a drug used to lower lipid levels.

A control group received water.

The treatments were given once a day for a period of 30 days.

At the same time, the mice were fed with hypercaloric diet throughout the period.

The research team found that the mice treated with artichoke extracts exhibited significant reductions in serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.